Ultimate Warrior (The Fight for Creation (Book Three)) (23 page)

BOOK: Ultimate Warrior (The Fight for Creation (Book Three))
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“That’s just it; I can’t ignore you. You’ve ruined my life!”

Pixie stared at Ken and saw his sorrow. She came over and sat down on the stuffed bag with him. It took some doing with the formal gown she was wearing. “Ken, what have I done?”

“Pixie, you haven’t done anything. Really, you haven’t. This is just me.”

“Why are you living here? You can live in a much larger and better place.”

“I donated my retirement to a children’s home. They need it more than I do.”

Pixie slowly shook her head, “I thought you would love your new found freedom.”

“I’m not free.”

“Why not?”

Ken looked in her eyes and said, “I can’t get you out of my mind.” He picked up the guitar and began playing some notes. Pixie was amazed at the melody. It was the same chords as the music the Creator sang and it was more beautiful than she could describe. It was also just as sad. Ken said, “She weeps for those being killed. I weep because you’re gone.”

Pixie looked at him and said, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You know the answer.”

“It’s because of Mitch.”

“That and who you are. You’re so much more than you know.”

Pixie looked at Ken and took his hand and jumped to Russell’s reception. Ken stared at her and said, “What are you doing!?”

Ken had on a tee-shirt and jeans. But Russell saw him from the front of the room and sprinted across the room and wrapped Ken up in his arms, lifted him off the floor, and gave him a huge hug, “Now my wedding day is complete.”

Ken looked at Russell and he saw Ken’s confusion. “I wouldn’t be here today without your help during those first missions. You mean more to me than you can ever guess. Thank you for coming.”

Mosby and Semy rushed up and hugged Ken as soon as Russell released him and Ken finally stared smiling. After thirty minutes the orchestra started playing and Pixie took Ken’s hand and pulled him out on the dance floor. “Part of acting responsible is that you have friends like those here that come to love you, Ken.”

Ken sighed and said, “I was angry at you but thank you for bringing me here. I’d never do anything to hurt Russell. I owe him a lot.”

“How do you feel about him?”

“I love him like a brother, Pixie. He accepted me for who I am and still let me be me. I see that he would have been hurt if I didn’t come.”

Russell stood, raised his arms for silence, and said, “My best man made a late arrival and I won’t end this day unless he makes a speech.”

Ken started shaking his head but the crowd pushed him toward the microphone. He looked up at the ceiling and then looked at Russell, “Only for you.” He looked out at the crowd and said, “I’ve been called reluctant by Russell every time he promoted me. I guess it’s in keeping with that adjective that I was late getting here. But it’s when all the things in your life settle down that you’re allowed to see things you miss when you’re immersed in life’s happenings.” Ken turned to Russell and said, “I don’t know how you tolerated me…but you did. And out of that I came to know who I am. I also came to know so many of you here that fought with me alongside our leader. Russell brought the best out of all of us and brought us back safely. I know that Ana is going to be safe with him holding her hand for the rest of her life.”

Ken looked at Ana, “He’ll love you for who you are and not try to change you. He’ll listen to you and truly hear what you’re saying. He’ll give you all that he has to offer and then some more. I envy what the two of you are going to have in the future and I know that happiness will be your daily meal for the rest of your lives. Congratulations and I do thank you for all you’ve done…Sir.”

The wedding gathering cheered and Russell came up and hugged Ken, “You are so much more than you know, Ken. Thank you for keeping me safe.” Ken nodded and hugged Russell.

Pixie watched Ken give his speech and for the first time since he left she didn’t feel boredom crushing her. She felt life come back and she smiled. Ken came back to their table and said, “I should have dressed.”

Pixie shook her head, “If you had shown up wearing anything else, you would have been out of character. You look exactly like all of those you served with expected.”

“Where is your next assignment?”

“I’ve resigned from the Warriors.”

“What!”

“I’m joining the Fleet and will be fighting with the Navy.”

“Why?”

“That’s where the next fights are going to happen. Our Warriors can’t match the next species we’re going to have to take on and it will become a war between fleets.”

“I’m sure you’ll be excellent in the Navy.”

“You’ll be able to see if I am or not.”

“Oh! How’s that?”

“You’re joining with me.”

“Why would I ever do that?”

“There’re two reasons.”

“What’s the first?”

“You’ve given up your first retirement so you’re going to need another.”

Ken tilted his head and started slowly nodding, “Now that’s a good point. What’s the other?”

“If you’re going to love me you should do it up close. You’ll be happier that way.”

Ken stared at Pixie and didn’t know what to say. He lowered his head and sighed, “I guess you’re right. Not seeing you has made my life miserable.”

“I was going to resign from the Scouts before I was offered a position in the Navy.”

“Why?”

“Because after you left, life was just not fun anymore; I suspect I miss you more than you miss me.”

Ken said, “That’s just not possible.”

Pixie said, “Look in my eyes and tell me what pattern you see.”

Ken looked in Pixie’s eyes and after a moment saw something. She needed him. He said, “Maybe it is. I guess miracles do happen.”

“Now you only have to answer one more question.”

“What is that?”

“Do you kiss me first or am I going to have to show you how it’s done.”

Ken’s smile was instant. He pulled Pixie over and kissed her tenderly. She felt his mind and was lost in what she saw. He finally broke the kiss and she said, “I’ll demonstrate how to do it with a little more passion.”

Ken decided at that moment that Major Dinter had been right during training; love does turn your world upside down.

• • •

Jixie sat with Sam in the family room and began crying. Sam looked at her, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, my love. Nothing.”

Chapter Seventeen

K
en looked at the assignments and scowled. Pixie said, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t understand why we’ve been sent to the Academy. We could learn what we need on the job.”

“Ken, you and I are going to be assigned a squadron of ships to command. Unless you want to enlist as an Ensign, you must complete this course of study. You need to know your ship’s capabilities and how they can be used. Besides, you should be thankful.”

“Why is that?”

“It gives us a chance to be together without the distraction of having to fight in space battles.”

Ken looked at Pixie and smiled, “You’re right. I didn’t think it through.” He turned back to the assignments and completed reading them in three minutes. “Now I have to confess that was interesting.”

Pixie looked at him, “You’re done?”

“Yeah, why do you ask?”

“I’m still storing the material in compartments.”

“Yeah, but you absorbed it in less than ten seconds.”

“There’s more to learning than absorbing it. How much do you remember?”

“All of it.”

“What was on page 408 in the first assignment?”

“Do you want the whole page?”

“The start of the last paragraph.”

“The invisibility mode does not allow absorption of energy and physical objects simultaneously. All objects such as missiles or projectiles should…”

“That’s enough. I know you see patterns instantly but do you also read just as fast?”

“Print is nothing more than a pattern. It takes me longer to turn the pages than to read it.”

Pixie shook her head, “I almost wonder if you’re human. However, it does allow you to do one thing.”

“What is that?”

Pixie came into his arms, “Maximize your chill time.”

Ken smiled and later walked Pixie to her dorm.

• • •

Sam looked at Admiral Bzelle and said, “Admiral, I want you to download every course you have in the academy into one unit and have two of your trainee’s go through them in one sitting.”

“Your Majesty, that’s four years of material.”

“Admiral, I happen to know that these two are not being challenged by the curriculum and are wasting time. Do as I ask and test them on it after they complete it.”

“We’ll have to do it in multiple downloads. They can’t stay on the couches for weeks at a time.”

“Admiral, they will adjust the speed of download to their ability to absorb it. I suspect it won’t take as long as you think. They’ve been there a year and we need them with the fleet. Notify me after they’ve been tested.”

“I’ll set it up immediately, Your Highness.” Admiral Bzelle shook his head. There was no way this was going to speed up the learning process. The huge amount of material was staggering. He contacted the Academy and issued his instructions.

• • •

“What’s going on?”

Pixie frowned, “We’ve been busted. Mom has seen that we’re not being challenged and has taken steps to speed up our education.”

“I was starting to like this routine.”

Pixie smiled, “I suspect you do; there’s huge amounts of chill time.” Pixie sighed, “But she’s right. We should get into the fray.”

The Academy Commanding Officer came over and said, “We’ve been instructed to put all of your classes into one download. Absorb it at a pace you’re comfortable with and notify me when you’re finished.”

Pixie said, “You sound skeptical, Sir.”

“We feel like you won’t save much time doing it this way. There is so much material that relates to other modules that it will take just as much time as attending classes with professors explaining those relationships.”

“Well, we might as well get started.”

Pixie looked at Ken and said, “You’re not going to fake this are you?”

“If I do, I’ll be left here and you’ll be gone. Then this will become a chore. I suspect you’ll finish long before I do anyway.”

“Yes, but I’ll have to organize it and process it, where you don’t. It will be interesting to see the difference.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Oh be quiet and let’s get this over with.”

They lay down on the couches and put on the head bands. The download started and the Commander left. Four hours later he received a call from the librarian, “Sir, they’ve completed the downloads.”

“WHAT?”

“Cadet Mille finished first but Cadet Clarke completed the download an hour later.”

The Commander was astounded. “Send them to the testing facility and have them go through all the exams associated with the modules on that download.”

He sat in his office and wondered how the two cadets could have possibly completed that material in less than a year. An hour later he decided to contact Fleet Admiral Mirabal, but his com buzzed and he saw the testing administrator on the display. “Yes?”

“They’ve competed the testing.”

“How is that possible?”

“It’s not possible but they’re done and both of them had no errors.”

“Is it possible they cheated?”

“I had Professor Petal come in and verbally question them on some of the complicated electronic systems our ships use and they didn’t make a mistake with her either. They know the material.”

“We’ve never had anyone to graduate with perfect scores.”

“Well now we have two.”

The Commander decided that the Duke knew something about these two cadets that he didn’t. “Send them to the registrar and process them out. Tell them they can attend the graduation of the next class.”

“Yes Sir.”

The Commander saw a message come in from Fleet Admiral Mirabal instructing him to graduate the two with the rank of Commodore. The Commander shook his head and smiled. With that rank they would command any group of ships without an Admiral. He knew that Clarke was a former Brigadier General and had earned that rank in the ranks. He pushed his panel and issued the instructions. He wondered how the two were going to be used in Fleet Operations but decided to make their promotions simultaneously. The times would be identical so they would be equal in rank. Neither would have seniority. Since Fleet didn’t tell him who should be senior, they could sort it out.

• • •

The eight hundred representatives of the farming communities talked among themselves about what was happening. A week earlier the farming communities had been ordered by the masters to select someone to speak for them. The representatives had been picked up in shuttles and brought to the largest farming community. Once they disembarked they were directed to a large field. The workers in the field wondered what was happening. A Blue Warship dropped out of the sky and hovered ten feet off the surface of the field. A Supreme Master came walking down the incline that emerged from the giant ship and approached the delegates. It thought so all could hear, “Those of you working in the fields may come and listen to what we’re going to discuss. The thousands of inhabitants working in the fields looked at each other and started moving toward the gathering. This had never happened in the past and there were equal measures of curiosity and fear. Curiosity won and the thousands left for the gathering that was growing by the thousands every second.

The Supreme Beetle waited until all of those in the fields arrived, which took more than four hours. Finally it said where all could hear, “We are leaving your planet.”

The crowd was stunned by the statement but no one spoke. Fear of the Masters was ingrained into their psyche. Finally the bravest delegate said, “Why?”

“We have learned that we are harming an entity that we wish to communicate with and to continue to hold you in confinement will not allow us to make contact.”

The delegate said, “Are you telling us you have no issues with conquering our planet and enslaving us to work your farms, but are going to walk away to simply communicate with another being?”

BOOK: Ultimate Warrior (The Fight for Creation (Book Three))
5.16Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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